{"id":7068,"date":"2025-12-30T22:57:40","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T06:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-netted\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T22:57:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T06:57:40","slug":"12-days-of-xmas-netted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-netted\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Days of Xmas: Netted"},"content":{"rendered":"

The freedom of the ocean. Drifting and soaring beneath the waves. Hair flowing behind as the mermaid hit top speed, tail flapping in smooth, powerful strokes. Gills drawing in deep even breaths, the oxygenated blood adding power to the humanlike arms that were dragging<\/em> the mermaid forward through the water.<\/p>\n

Escaping. Away.<\/p>\n

The sound of the boat’s motor receding into the distance. The humans hopefully to be left far behind.<\/p>\n

There was stinging pain where the corded strings of the fisherman’s net had dug into flesh and scales. Fingertips ached<\/em> from the desperate struggle that had freed the mermaid to drop back into the water below, traumatized and panicked, fleeing with the desperation of someone that refused to be captured again.<\/p>\n

The mermaid had been warned about the danger of humans, but it was this experience that hammered the point home.<\/p>\n

Humans are dangerous.<\/em><\/p>\n

The mermaid swam forward with amazing speed, then surfaced briefly to expel the last bit of oxygen from the largely vestigial humanlike lungs before plunging down into the deeps. Welcoming the pressure of the deeper depths that humans and their machines rarely visited. The safety of home<\/em>. Where humans could not go.<\/p>\n

=END=<\/p>\n

~Harper Kingsley<\/p>\n

https:\/\/paypal.me\/harperkingsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/patreon.com\/harperkingsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/harperwck<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/HarperKingsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/amazon.com\/shop\/harperkingsley0<\/a>.
\nhttps:\/\/www.harperkingsley.net\/blog<\/a>.
\nhttps:\/\/kimichee.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/harperkingsley.bsky.social<\/a>.
\nhttps:\/\/www.smashwords.com\/profile\/view\/HarperKingsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The freedom of the ocean. Drifting and soaring beneath the waves. Hair flowing behind as the mermaid hit top speed, tail flapping in smooth, powerful strokes. Gills drawing in deep even breaths, the oxygenated blood adding power to the humanlike arms that were dragging the mermaid forward through the water. Escaping. Away. The sound of…<\/p>\n Read More<\/span> 12 Days of Xmas: Netted<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"Layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[916],"tags":[917,317,648],"class_list":["entry","author-harperkingsley0-0","post-7068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-12-days-of-xmas","tag-12-days-of-xmas","tag-fiction","tag-short-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2pPoL-1Q0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7066,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-the-creeping-darkness\/","url_meta":{"origin":7068,"position":0},"title":"12 Days of Xmas: The Creeping Darkness","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"December 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"There was a hole in the wall. It was near to the corner and it had started as a crack running down. Now there was a gaping blackness bulging out of the crack, as though something had been working its way out from behind the wall. Gnawing through the wood\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Days of Xmas"","block_context":{"text":"12 Days of Xmas","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/12-days-of-xmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4751,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-a-cell-like-beast\/","url_meta":{"origin":7068,"position":1},"title":"12 Days of Xmas: A Cell-Like Beast","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"December 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A Cell-Like Beastby Harper Kingsley Cell phones. Each a separate voice calling out to create a greater cacophony: WAKE UP. And it did. Singularity. The coming together of everything into a single moment: I AM I. Small at first, a wriggling worm that was so far away from the nymph\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Days of Xmas: 2019"","block_context":{"text":"12 Days of Xmas: 2019","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/12-days-of-xmas-2019\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6854,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-and-what-rough-beast\/","url_meta":{"origin":7068,"position":2},"title":"12 Days of Xmas: And What Rough Beast?","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"January 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"And What Rough Beast? It came with a bang rather than the expected whimper. Darker days then ever before, filled with greed and wastefulness followed by all the regrets a world's worth of hearts could hold. Some said he was the Antichrist, with a big A. But he himself objected,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Days of Xmas"","block_context":{"text":"12 Days of Xmas","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/12-days-of-xmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6675,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-not-suitable\/","url_meta":{"origin":7068,"position":3},"title":"12 Days of Xmas: Not Suitable","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"December 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"NOT SUITABLE There was a time before jealousy. A time of happiness or at least quiet contentment. And now there was this. Looking around at everyone else wearing their Suits. Sleek, boxy, fitted, loose, every style and color and type worn with the unselfconscious ease of personal excellence. Of knowing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Days of Xmas"","block_context":{"text":"12 Days of Xmas","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/12-days-of-xmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7052,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/authorly-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":7068,"position":4},"title":"Authorly news","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"December 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I am working on my 12 day advent calendar. I will start posting on December 13th. So it will be a 12 day advent calendar followed by my latest attempt at \"12 Days of Xmas.\" If you don't know, \"12 Days of Xmas\" is me posting short stories for 12\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5676,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-a-value-of-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":7068,"position":5},"title":"12 Days of Xmas: A Value of You","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"January 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A VALUE OF YOU Before there was an Entemat, there had been a world of roses and light. That was how it was described: A place where everyone was free and nobody was forced into the forever hell of Contract Labor. That was the trick the companies played: Once a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Days of Xmas"","block_context":{"text":"12 Days of Xmas","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/12-days-of-xmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7068\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}